National Budget for 9.25.07

Jean Hodges, National Editor

Monday

Sep 24, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 24, 2007 at 6:31 AM

National Budget for 9.25.07

GateHouse News Service National Budget

For 9/25/07 editions

Here are the top national stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/. Please submit stories below no later than 6 pm local time, unless you have breaking news that is changing significantly.

HALO VIDEO GAME AS A TEACHING TOOL? - UConn professor uses the Halo series as a teaching tool in his classics class. We find out how, why and what the students get from it. He and the students are playing the newly released Halo 3 – MicroSoft epic finale to video game trilogy - Monday. Norwich Bulletin, 15 inches, 6 p.m.
ART: With contributed photo (More screen shots here: http://www.halo3.com/ )

NO CALL LIST – GOOD TO LOCALIZE: Federal do-not-call list expires in nine months, meaning folks who want to remain on it will have to re-up. How does the federal rule square with Mass. do-not-call rules? MetroWest Daily News, Reuell, 15 inches, 6 p.m.

MENAGERIE SUIT -- 50 ANIMALS: From Margaret Avenue in the Frey subdivision on Springfield's far west side - chickens, ducks, geese and other animals can be seen scurrying around the back yard of Sheri McLean and Stan Westphal. They also have two goats, rabbits and guineas, according to neighbors, who say the total number of animals tops 50. For that, 18 of them are suing. WETTERICH/ SPRINGFIELD / Illinois News

MACKINAW MAILBOX BAN: The ban on mailboxes in Mackinaw will most likely be lifted during a meeting tonight. Residents have complained about being forced to buy a P.O. box and having to drive into town each day because of the 1998 ban on boxes at homes. (merits; by 9:30 p.m.) SAMPIER/PEORIA/Illinois News

Sports

CUBS: Will hit on a point Zambrano recently made about money players coming through during this stretch. Vorva hopes to have a creative look at the top five salaried players on the team and how they've done in this 12-game stretch. W/MAGIC NUMBER/STANDINGS ˜ VORVA

NADEL COLUMN - Nadel column, Lovie Smith is making all of Bear Country wait until Wednesday to learn whether Rex Grossman or Brian Griese will start the team's next game. That is the lead item in this week's Best of The Baldest Truth.. Categories: Illinois Sports and Mike Nadel.

EDITORIAL: It's easy to think of Congress as little more than a debating society, where partisan games, ideological rigidity and special interests conspire to keep anything from getting accomplished. Examples abound of Congress's inability to address problems that put a squeeze on America's middle class families. That's why it's worth recognizing progress on two bills that will bring concrete relief American families. METROWEST / in / editorials

GRANLUND CARTOON: Dave Granlund on Newt Gingrich saying he'd run for president for $30 million. METROWEST / in / cartoons

EDIT: BAILOUT SEMATICS: A day after the Federal Reserve chopped its most important interest rate by half a percentage point, a newspaper headline proclaimed, 'Experts: Rate cut not a 'bailout.''Really? What do we call, then, a decision that immediately sent the Dow Jones industrial average surging by more than 330 points, and had pit traders on Wall Street grinning from ear to ear? PEORIA/Illinois Opinions

EDIT: WE LIKE TO WATCH: There are many angles from which to ponder Monday's
tasering of a University of Florida student. Ultimately, we think the most interesting angle is that there are literally so many angles of this incident available for viewing. PEORIA/Illinois Opinions

PRE-TEEN HALLOWEEN: When is a teenager ready to go it alone? MILFORD, Mass. / in / Lifestyles

GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN - The U.S. Census Bureau says that in the United States more than six million children are being raised in their grandparent’s homes, and in Massachusetts, almost 68,000 children are living in grandparent-headed households. CNC Parents & Kids, Carrara, 35 inches, on wire now
ART: With photo